Washington — President-elect Donald Trump said in a social media post Thursday that he will nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
“I am pleased to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS),” he said in an article on X. He said Americans have been “crushed by the industrial food complex and pharmaceutical companies.” who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and misinformation” about public health, and Kennedy would “make America great and healthy again!” »
Kennedy has a long history of criticism vaccinesnotably by spreading misleading claims about their safety.
He has sworn to fight an “epidemic” of chronic diseases and believes that big pharmaceutical and food companies are responsible for a wide range of illnesses. Kennedy claimed that a number of health problems have worsened due to federal inaction, including autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, sleep disorders, infertility rates, diabetes and obesity. He also urged eliminate fluoride drinking water.
Kennedy is expected to be confirmed by the Senate. His chances of winning a Democratic-led Senate would have been slim, given his long history of what the party called “anti-science and fringe public health positions,” but with The majority Republicans Come January, Trump’s nominees will have an easier path to confirmation.
Despite expected opposition to Kennedy’s nomination – as well as others controversial choice to lead national security agencies and former representative from Florida. Matt Gaetz to lead the Justice Department — Trump told associates in recent days that he stands by his choice for health chief.
“No one can dissuade him,” one of the sources close to the choice said Thursday.
Trump promised during the campaign to let Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic and former environmental lawyer, “run wild” on issues related to health, food and medicine.
“I’m going to let him run wild on health care. I’m going to let him run wild on food. I’m going to let him run wild on drugs,” Trump said in the final days before the election. “The only thing I don’t think I’m going to let him near is the liquid gold we have under our feet…sometimes called oil and gas.”
The broad HHS department includes a number of agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Food and Drug Administration. As HHS Secretary, Kennedy would also oversee the Office of Refugee Resettlementwhich is responsible for caring for undocumented and unaccompanied children apprehended along the border.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a watchdog group that is often in conflict with the FDA and in some ways is closely aligned with Kennedy’s calls to eliminate chemicals from foods, issued a statement condemning his nomination .
“Appointing an anti-vaccine like Kennedy to HHS is like putting a flat earther in charge of NASA,” the group’s president, Dr. Peter G. Lurie, said in a statement. “CSPI opposes this nomination and any other nominee who poses a direct threat to science and evidence-based solutions.”
But a prominent Democrat, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, said in a social media post that he was “excited by the news” of Kennedy’s nomination. He praised Kennedy for helping defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019, but said he hoped Kennedy would embrace personal choice when it comes to vaccines, rather than banning them. He also expressed optimism about Kennedy’s willingness to take on big pharmaceutical companies and high drug costs for Americans. Polis also supported Kennedy’s criticism of “entire departments, like the FDA’s nutrition department” that are “not doing their job, they’re not protecting our children,” particularly from pesticides used in agriculture. ‘agriculture.
Polis later clarified his praise by stating that “science must remain THE cornerstone of our nation’s health policy and that the science-based decision to get vaccinated improves public health and safety.”
At the same time, Polis also launched a political entity with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker aimed at taking on other aspects of the Trump agenda.
As co-chair of Trump’s transitionKennedy reviewed a list of staffers who could take on senior positions in the Trump administration. He said he hoped “all the nutrition scientists” at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture “are laid off on day one.”
Kennedy, who faced a lengthy and costly process to appear on the general election ballot as an independent candidate, ended his White House bid in August and supported Trump.
Kennedy said three issues convinced him to support Trump: free speech, the war in Ukraine and what he called the “war on our children.” He said processed foods, chemicals and obesity were destroying the health of children in the United States.
At an August rally with Kennedy, Trump pledged to create a committee to investigate chronic health problems and childhood illnesses, as well as to establish an independent presidential commission on assassination attempts that would be responsible for releasing all remaining documents related to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Kennedy is the nephew of the late president and the son of the late senator, attorney general and presidential candidate. Robert F. Kennedy.
Caitlin Huey-Burns and Ed O’Keefe contributed to this report.
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